VCF Quarterly Update # 9 – December 2016
The CFA hosted the Volunteer Consultative Forum (VCF) quarterly meeting on Saturday 3 December 2016 at their headquarters in Burwood East.
The next VCF meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 8 March 2017, and will be held at Life Saving Victoria in Port Melbourne.
VCF Update:
Update from the Minister for Emergency Services
- Attending his first VCF meeting, Minister Merlino observed that the strength of the VCF is in its broad representation across the spectrum of emergency management organisations that represent volunteers on the ground.
- The VCF provides a good opportunity for the Minister to convey the level of respect that the Victorian Government has for volunteers, the work of volunteer organisations and to hear directly from members about what is working and what can be done better.
- Minister Merlino identified a keen interest in several volunteer initiatives including:
The Value of Volunteers, Volunteering and Volunteerism project that seeks to capture and quantify the social, economic, environmental and cultural value to communities, business, government and agencies.
The Multi-agency Volunteer Welfare and Efficiency Survey which is a great step forward to better understanding volunteer issues and providing insights across all agencies.
The Multi-agency Youth Network which is a positive and exciting generational change initiative that provides an opportunity for a youth voice and involvement at all levels of emergency management.
- The Minister acknowledged the exceptional work of all emergency management volunteers.
Volunteer Victoria
- The VCF received a presentation from Sue Noble, Chief Executive Officer and Abigail Elliott, Manager HELPOut Program on the work of Volunteering Victoria, andthe HELPOut and Manager Spontaneous Emergency Volunteer (MSEV) programs.
- Volunteering Victoria is the peak body for volunteering in Victoria and exists to promote and build vibrant, prosperous and strong volunteering that is inclusive, respected and sustainable. Its vision is for resilient communities and empowered, active citizens through volunteering.
- Volunteering Victoria’s strategic priorities for 2017–20 include to:
Build and strengthen a vibrant, diverse, satisfied and growing membership and network of stakeholders that is truly representative of the entire Victorian volunteering community.
Facilitate an innovative and collaborative approach to develop and deliver thier policy and advocacy priorities and quality programs and resources to support the growth and empowerment of the volunteering community.
Demonstrate and model governance and management leadership, excellence, accountability and good stewardship.
Grow a robust and sustainable financial base that demonstrates commercial acumen, supports sustainable growth and enables VV to invest in the future of volunteering.
- The HELPOut program:
Aims to harness the power of spontaneous volunteers in an emergency and enables communities and organisations to pre-register that they may need extra capacity.
Captures details of potential spontaneous volunteers in a centralised Client Relationship Management (CRM) database that is sophisticated and flexible enough to adapt to the evolving process.
Commenced with a pilot in the G21 region using the best practice Manager of Spontaneous Volunteers (MSEV) program as a starting point.
Is focused on the needs of local communities, recognises there is a place for centralised services and acknowledges the need to operate within the Victorian emergency management framework and in consultation with local business.
Provides a call centre that is staffed by volunteers.
Makes it clear to local organisations that, once deployed, MSEVs and spontaneous volunteers are the responsibility of the organisation and that they are not deployed to assist with emergency response functions.
- Further information about Volunteering Victoria and their programs can be found on their website volunteeringvictoria.org.au.
Emergency Management Common Operating Picture (EMCOP)
- The VCF received a presentation from Cain Trist, Acting Program Director EMCOP, EMV on the Emergency Management Common Operating Picture (EMCOP) and the VicEmergency website and mobile application (EMCOP Public).
- EMCOP enables common situational awareness and collaboration before, during and after an emergency and provides public information and warnings. It also houses a library of case studies and readiness plans that members are encouraged to read, and now includes consequence information and the ability to chat with other users.
- EMCOP is not a first responder/turn-out system, IMS or a high-end mapping tool for spatial analysis.
- There are separate training and incident sites for EMCOP, requiring separate registrations for each. Training and briefings for EMCOP include situational awareness, collaboration and public information and are delivered in both online and face-to-face formats.
- The VicEmergency app:
Was first released on 14November 2016, with a number of planned releases over the following weeks.
Provides information on all emergencies.
Is focused on an individual’s location and allows users to create personal watch zones which can be replicated on multiple devices.
Issues email notifications for all warnings.
Is available from the Apple and Google app stores.
- EMCOP is based on a system that is running in California, Washington and Queensland and the potential to use the same system architecture across all of government is being explored.
- The VicEmergency Hotline (1800 226 226) has been established.
Other Business
- Brief updates were provided to VCF members on current emergency management volunteer initiatives and projects including the:
Multi-agency Welfare and Efficiency Survey
Multi-agency Youth Network
Value of Emergency Management Volunteers, Volunteering and Volunteerism.
- More detailed updates will be provided at the March 2017 VCF meeting, and will be included in the next Quarterly Update.
The next VCF Quarterly Update # 10 will be available following the March 2017 VCF meeting.